So, in the less than a handful of Sims that allow NPCS, why can they not win in combat? I mean, I'm not talking of metered combat here. I'm talking of a roll of a dice, something allowed in most Sims that actually allow NPCS. Is it because there would be a need to monitor the use of the NPCS?

I know that actual male avatars are encouraged and the use of NPCS is for the sake of realism. I also know that people don't do unrealistic things such as taking free women captive over small potatoes if there is a chance they would lose. With a NPC only present, they always win. You might as well auto cap yourself. Having someone to protect your character all the time is an unrealistic demand. I don't even have friends in Gor anymore.

For the disclaimer, I'm not speaking of any particular Sim. As far as I am aware, any Sim that allows NPCS don't allow them to win in a combat situation. It is a common rule and I'm curious.

While it would be easy to create guidelines and rules as to how many NPC guards certain characters might have (the higher their status the more guards they'd have) or even determine the size of an NPC army under a certain commander or captain - it becomes an issue when such rules need to be established or explained to off-sim visitors.

That said, NPCs should always be relatively weak compared to player characters - a player character should most of the time be able to beat an NPC in a fight, but again that depends on the type of character we're playing too. However there comes a point during which battle should be impossible, such as a player character trying to attack an Ubar with 12 of the finest NPC guards in the city.

I know RP sims in which NPC guards and NPC armies are an important element and consideration in role play, except those are usually always standalone sims, because creating a standard on NPC rules across multiple sims would be almost impossible. I honestly prefer it though, I'd rather role play in an environment where NPCs are acknowledged than in one where everyone acts as if the castle is empty and unmanned and having to suffer all the weird and absurd role play that follows from it.

I hadn't known there were restrictions on NPCs, but it's not like I read sim rules!So many of them are aggressive and trashy, you can feel the anger the writer had when they abandoned their former sim's drama and decided to open a new, BS-free BTB sim

As Anarch says, when a sim has the right attitude and rules governing NPCs, they can enhance roleplay. But in BTB, NPCs and their usage is fairly random, it's defined by whatever the player feels is fair - A shitshow waiting to happen.

I think it started because men make unreliable escorts, free women wanted to travel and without escort she was collar-bait. And there were situations where a random city's slave would walk into your sim and start serving in the tavern and damn! I remember how the women in our group hated it. The freedom for females travelling willy-nilly around Gor was restricted, so NPC guards came into play.

And then it evolved to practically every woman having 5 NPC guards, with no consideration to the expense of round-the-clock security. I'd even seen peasant stall holders, and slaves, with multiple NPC guards. It's borderline powergaming and my attitude towards those players was not to engage with them at all. Here's something to consider, when you talk about cheating in Gor, the impression will be of a man dishonouring himself. But women cheat in RP and raids too. A "5 NPC guards" tag is advertising the sort of person they are.

So I'm not surprised to hear sims are clamping down on NPC ability, they were once a tool for allowing travel and were abused as a means for powergaming.

Fair NPC use is where a person includes them in every post, gives them names, involves them in events, accounts for their expense. The other side are people with the "5 NPCs" tag and will never mention them in emotes, until they're feeling threatened and just like that, this person's NPCs come into play. I've encountered 'guarded' slaves in taverns and the only time she'll post him in, is when she doesn't want to roleplay with someone in particular. It's a poor use of NPCs, a Get Out of Jail For Free card.

In other situations a person feeling threatened may wave towards a city's NPC guards and call them over. The right way of doing so, would be to roll a dice and see if the NPCs will even respond or ignore their plight.

But in saying all of that, I don't think an NPC guard should be doomed to lose all encounters, they represent the person's defence and both assailant and defender, should roll dice of equal value.